Community

74 pages

3 m, 7 w, 3 flexible parts

Did Julie Marshall beat her fianceé to death with a fireplace poker? Her attorney, Sam Zangrillis, thinks he can prove her innocent, but District Attorney Adrienne Bancroft, a former friend and colleague of the deceased, is out for revenge. Here's a slick and suspenseful courtroom drama that will keep everyone in the audience guessing because the witnesses seem to cloud the case rather than illuminate it. Julie's main alibi, her roommate, is a single, lonely woman, possibly envious of Julie having a serious relationship. The dead man's sister, who discovered ...

18 pages

3 m, 3 w, extras

According to his uncle's will, Bob, a carefree young man, must spend $1,000 within 24 hours and give an account of how it was spent to the lawyer. First he almost buys a necklace for his greedy girlfriend, then he almost gives it to a con man. Finally he gives it to his uncle's ward, Linda, and the orphans she cares for. Bob then learns if he spent his $1,000 wisely he would receive another $50,000; if not, it would go to Linda. In true O. Henry style where coincidence affects character, Bob tells the attorney he lost the money at the race track.

65 pages

5 m, 9 w

Here is an outrageous comedy for community theatres that puts the audience on the hot seat! A series of sixteen, quick-paced scenes illuminate the joys and tribulations of the modern theatre-going experience. In "An Audience of One," a single theatre patron delivers an impassioned monologue to convince the actors to perform the show just for her. The scene, "What the Crowd Is Thinking," allows us to hear the real thoughts of an audience sitting through an uninspired performance. In "Uber Ushers," a band of ushers, driven to the brink of madness by the boorish...

20 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 1 girl

Ted and Jane are hosting Ted’s mother and sister for Christmas. As they share memories of their childhood home (acted out live) it becomes clear that their perspectives about the past are very different. An on-going “falling off the ladder” gag adds to the laughs. Finally, Mom presents them each with a DVD featuring their old home movies. As they watch it together, the realization that perhaps they each had things better than they remember brings a lump to the throat and an appreciation for the value of family. Performing groups can be as creative as desired ...

35 pages

15 m, 7 w, extras, much doubling possible

The survivors of the Titanic disaster tell you in their own words about their escape to lifeboats in this adaptation of the 1912 Senate hearings, which began just one day after they arrived from their fateful trip. "We have nothing to conceal," proclaims White Star Lines President Bruce Ismay, but then has to explain why he was able to get in a lifeboat. Hear Fifth Officer Lowe's report why some lifeboats were not completely filled when they departed and why he fired a pistol to control the crowds. As parts of their testimony are re-enacted, we begin to see t...

52 pages

6 m, 6 w

The ill-fated Crenshaw family reunions are always such disastrous affairs that everyone wishes they were orphans. This year young Teddy takes his new wife, Susan, home to meet the clan and winds up kidnapped - along with everyone else - because no one showed up at the last reunion at Aunt Sophie's and she's ready for revenge. Teddy and Susan, the most normal of the bunch, serve as narrators and occasionally speak directly to the audience. Still, you can't help loving the other family lunatics including Teddy's brother, the non-stop salesman; the sister who is...

80 pages

12 m, 14 w, 5 flexible; doubling possible; extras as aliens

Elise Sims has just finished college, and she's ready to take on the world. Now she just has to tell her family about her plans. But they live in Oyer’s Corners, a town full of odd folks who make a living by selling tours and souvenirs to UFO seekers. Elise's grandfather, Jebediah Sims, started the UFO legend nearly forty years ago when he claimed he was abducted and taken aboard a flying saucer. New technology is making it increasingly difficult to fake UFO evidence, and the townsfolk are struggling to keep the legend -- and Oyer’s Corners -- alive. One fact...

48 pages

Flexible from 16 to 33+ including some speaking roles for children

In this modern reimagining of Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," a struggling theatre company is rehearsing a Christmas show. Carol, the hard-driving real estate agent who owns the building, interrupts, demanding rent. Later, in the empty theatre, deceased business partner Marlene appears to Carol, foretelling that three spirits will appear. Throughout first two, a sage child who speaks in Victorian slang and a gregarious game show host who forces Carol to play along, Carol still remains unmoved. It isn’t until she is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future that ...

60 pages

4 m, 4 w, 4 children

One Christmas Eve, as carolers gather about a fire, a young boy who cannot sleep discovers a book on his desk. As he opens it, the portraits of his ancestors come alive to take him through the journey of its story. The book, of course, is "A Christmas Carol" and in his travels, the boy meets a man on another journey, Ebenezer Scrooge in the company of the Spirits. This is a startlingly different adaptation of Charles Dickens' Christmas classic. The use of the three Ancestors to do the narration provides an active way to tell the story. These master raconteurs...

58 pages

3 m, 6 w

Geraldine Pointer is a selfish woman whose materialism alienated both her husband and daughter. But years have passed, and something strange is happening to Geraldine. Although she never gives anything to anybody, her neighbors and friends are turning up with gifts and cards attributed to Geraldine, and in her own handwriting no less! First the cleaning lady receives a hundred dollar tip, then an old boyfriend gets a pure Italian silk tie, and finally the neighbor with the sick little boy gets money to help his recovery. Geraldine doesn't know what's going on...

58 pages

3 m, 3 w

Howard, a middle-aged tailor, indulges in daydreams to escape his humdrum existence. Norma, his suspicious wife, believes he is fantasizing about Dorothy, a sexy widow friend, so she comes up with a scheme to have Dorothy passionately flirt with Howard to test his fidelity. But Norma's plan backfires when Howard retaliates by conniving with Dorothy to turn the trick around. Soon Norma is threatening divorce and conspiring with a widower in a romantic charade to make Howard jealous. When the mixed-up couples are spotted having intimate dinners for two by Howar...

20 pages

5 m, 5 w

Sally Sweet (Buffalo Bill Chip's girl) controls the water for the whole valley where Baron von Broccoli owns most of the land. Now the Baron has a dream to change the eating habits of America - from sugar-frosted broccoli flakes to brocale, an alcoholic drink. He needs more land and LOTS of water. Therein lies the plot. Enter Caesar Salad, a hired killer; Tom O'Hawk, an Irish-Indian; and the BLOBS (Broccoli Lovers Of Broken Stump).

66 pages

3 m, 3 w

A young National Guardsman is sent to the small town of Crickwater to kick off a World Peace Day celebration, but finds the city's fathers and mothers ready for anything but peace! He quickly sees it will take more than just a banner and a sheet cake to end the conflict in this eccentric burg. The town's widowed volunteer librarian has had an adversarial relationship with her sister for so long she no longer knows how to do anything but fling sarcastic zingers at anyone who comes close to her. The mayor married the town's most eligible bachelorette, but after...

80 pages

17 m, 15 w, 4 flexible. With doubling 9 m, 10 w.

The life of the poor country lad, Pip, changes one day when an unknown benefactor sees that the young man is brought to London and made a gentleman. But who is behind Pip’s “great expectations,” and why is it kept a secret? By the time Pip learns the truth of his circumstances, he has gotten involved with some fascinating people and undergone a vital change of character. This adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic is an excellent choice for schools in that it stays true to the novel, including the amusing theatre scene in which a humorous heckler wreaks ha...

68 pages

11 m, 12 w, 3 flexible

Soapy Smith, a real outlaw of the West at the turn of the last century, has stolen the deed to Captain Billy's Skagway Saloon and is holding it for ransom. The price? Marriage to Miss Molly May, the daughter of Billy's late partner. The beautiful Miss Molly, in love with Titus Trueheart, the local hero, refuses until the unlikely day Soapy can clean up the town. Soapy asks his Seattle "associate," Venus von Trapp, to haul up a shipment of brides to help civilize the town. But when they turn out to be pickpockets and thieves, Soapy demands that Molly teach the...